Two chapters within a DAY? Aren't you lucky!

Things get permanent next chapter. Here's a transitory splat of words.

Forced to go to work before the New Year holiday,

Kelsey

CHAPTER 42: 9.8 m/s^2

She lost sight and sound of the Professor and Edward. There was no more clanking on the walkways, so Laura assumed they were back in the main hallways.

Thoughts upon thoughts flooded her mind—It's all my fault; I have no chance of stopping anything; I might as well die; should I 'happen' to fall over into this chamber? No one will know…—and she did her best to dam them up, but guilt was a thick and bitter medicine. It wasn't going down well. About as well as her attempts at saving anyone.

Several times she would have to stop, resist the want to vomit over the side of the railings. She wasn't sure if she should attribute it to the pain in her legs—thorny vines of shock and electric pulsing, malfunctioning nerves—or to the incessant nagging of her conscience. How culpable was she? Her responsibility gauge told her 100% culpable.

And then optimism would be her religion, conversion overwhelming her with a wave of unrivaled determination. She could do anything! This whole plan was in the bag; she could have her cake and eat it too, and have some leftover to save. It was in this mode that she managed to ascend to the main level with the corporate offices.

'He locked the drill's sequence, but if I can just delete everything…there's nothing even Edward can rely on,' Laura repeated in her head; going over a list of procedures made executing plans all the more achievable. 'Hacking is out of the question. Would take too long. Have to find his password. I know I saw it in a file in that annex…'

The hallway was eerily quiet. All of a sudden she felt cold. Once she reached the office, she tip-toed to the door frame, afraid she'd be attacked, but the place was black. Someone had pulled the curtains, and the room was as bright as a windowless basement during a power cut.

"I have to take a risk…"

As if it were the safest place on earth, she shuffled in and went directly to the office annex. The door was wide open now. The overhead light flickered to life after she pushed the light switch, blinding her momentarily. As expected, the files were still strewn everywhere, but she could pick out her target from the rest of the folders with ease. Several seconds of rummaging proved productive as she laid eyes on Edward's master password key.

"Bingo," the girl said in a low voice, chancing a particularly sinister laugh. "Now…to the computer…"

She knew Edward was working behind the scenes when he'd locked himself in the room earlier, and sure enough, his laptop was booted up and running the remote program to the drill. It was a matter of seconds before she had access…complete access. As if she were Edward she cleared the program cache and simply clicked twice (once to select, another to confirm) to end the path sequence once more.

'Hopefully this is the final barrier…'

In a fit of excitement Laura slammed the computer shut and sent it flying at the wall. Whether the machine was damaged or not was uncertain but a small plume of dust exploded from the wall as the plaster chunked off and fell to the floor. She whooped and rushed out, starting her search for the Professor.

Instead she ran straight into Edward, her first reaction being to push against the white suit. She screamed as she flew backward, scrambling behind the desk in order to separate them.

"How insulting, as if we haven't worked together all these years!" he laughed. His face was calm yet nonplussed.

"You just don't quit, do you…" Laura stood, her teeth barred. She flexed her hands, getting ready for a brawl. It wasn't as if she could do anything against a berserker like him, but she had to be prepared.

"Same can be said for you, of course. Are we really so different?"

Sniggering, her mouth agape turned slowly into a bewildered grin. "Are you bloody serious?"

"Really, we share similar feelings towards our parents, our peers. We both have worked on this project for years, and yet we're now at odds… We can both share the same fate as well, if only you would comply with—"

"We do NOT share the same feelings towards parents and peers, Edward," Laura defiantly corrected, pure malice lacing every syllable. "My parents may not have thought much of me, but—"

"Same can be said of my father. Can you believe it? Denying his own son…" Again, a drama. Cue the curtains; conductor, the music, please.

"It's not my fault, who they chose for the drills, Edward," Laura snapped. "If we're so alike, why are you treating me like dirt? Punishing me isn't justified! You tricked me, used my skills for your idiotic plans!"

"Yes, yes, fair enough." He shrugged off the comment, as if washing his hands clean of the whole matter. Then, he began walking towards her slowly, closing the gap between them. She inched her way backwards, around the desk; she tried to get closer to the exit of the dark office. She saw her shadow stretched out before her as she approached the light of the hallway. "At least, for that part of it. It was my plan all along, but…you didn't really challenge it. It still is your drill. And otherwise, engineering and world pursuits aside…you aren't completely clean. The Book has taught me a lot about you."

Not knowing what he was getting at, Laura stood silent, miserably facing him down. "I won't be moved by your taunting, and I don't care what you know."

"Oh, really? I know at least that we could have been decent, you and I," he shared with her softly, barely above a whisper. There was now only about two meters between them, as he'd shuffled around as much as she did. "With your mechanical expertise and my drive, we could have made quite a stir in Europe, and then the world. You could have been something. Look what you've already done! Quite a bit for me, thank you. No one could have done better, I'm positive of that. You could have had a share of the wealth. But… It would have been fleeting.

"Truth is, I wouldn't have kept you around anyway."

She never noticed the flick of his coat as he pulled something out from beneath, but she saw his arm fly up from his waist, now carrying something; the fact that Edward's uninjured hand was holding a new weapon took half a second to process. Laura was now staring down the mysterious and dark barrel of a meaty hand gun. Makes and models of weapons were beyond her ken, but the understanding of a gun's ultimate purpose—it's primary goal—was seizing her brain. It made her freeze in place, although she knew deep down that she should have fled.

"I…" was all she managed to peep, her eyes glued to the end of the gun. Her muscles were like cement, stuck and solid, her bones shaking from within her scared cocoon of a body.

"Should have just resorted to this to begin with," Edward stated lazily, as if reporting the morning weather. "Would have saved me the trouble of chasing you about, correcting your little programming hacks. Did you just implement another? Such a bother, you are. But you were so much fun to play with, really."

She felt herself go cross-eyed, staring down the gun's dark tunnel. It was the 'when' part that made her stiffen, her subconscious rattling off the question over and over.

'When…is that thing going off? When? When? When?!'

"You'd better stop moving, Laura Haris. A few more steps backward, and my aim won't be as accurate. I'll do you a favor, and end you quickly and painlessly. Just hold still…"

She hadn't noticed herself continuing to step back, and was only a few feet from the door now. If she were quick and caught him in a lapse of his attention, she might be able to secure an escape. But the risk, to chance such a thing…

'But I'm going to die here for sure! Why can't I move?!'

"Where's your precious little Professor now, Laura?" Edward said sneeringly, fang-like teeth showing. They flashed like deadly pearls. He cocked the gun, and set finger to the trigger. "Just like ten years ago, isn't it?"

In one second—no, a split second—fate was bent and shaken as several impromptu decisions were made.

It was the single most important, most quickly made choice Professor Layton had ever made. His hearing ceased, the world melted and crumbled. He traveled as if in a vacuum, where he could just 'do'with no restrictions on 'how'. His limbs were as a marionette's, orchestrated by some puppeteer from above, tugging the strings; he didn't know how his brain charged into action so smoothly, so perfectly, but it did.

He had charged into the room without warning, somehow picking up on Edward and Laura's location mere seconds before Edward had decided to use the gun; he'd praise his intuition later, but now, Layton somehow contorted himself as he sprung forward through the door frame to the office, and shielded Laura nanoseconds before the gun exploded, producing an unyielding shot. In a graceful arc of his body, he launched himself in front of her and forced the bullet to make him its target. In one action, the result was changed, and for a split second in time Laura was standing stock still with bated breath as a spray of blood spread across her face and chest before she even knew what was happening.

As the Professor completed his trajectory, he wrapped his arms around the girl, forcing her off her feet. With a stroke of luck, the path of the bullet had only drove through his arm instead of a more fatal spot. The bullet burnt through his coat and skin like a brand, ripping cleanly through his right arm as both he and Laura fell to the ground in a heap. Layton inhaled sharply as the pain seared and coursed throughout his muscles, making him wish the nerves would go numb so he didn't have to deal with the discomfort. His teeth barred as he struggled to remove himself off Laura, who whimpered weakly, the Professor's weight crushing her lungs.

"Stupid idiot," Edward Chancey muttered, calling the Professor other insults before spitting contemptuously. "You might have died, doing that. But then that'd be killing two birds with one stone. How's that for a metaphor?" Edward cocked the gun once more, but the Professor was wise to his intentions. He knew the villain wouldn't act without some cocky comment, and had already leaped to his feet as the pain burned and throbbed in his arm muscles, pulling Laura along with him as best as he could with his good arm. They forced themselves through the exit and tumbled out into the hall as several shots went off, hitting the wall opposite the office door. Laura was still being hoisted by the Professor as they took off down the hallway.

"LAURA, WAKE UP AND RUN!" Layton shouted in her ear, letting go of her and grabbing her hand. As soon as her feet leveled with the ground, she tried to keep up with the Professor, but her brain was asleep. Her voice came out of her as if in a dream, where she couldn't quite control what to say, but she knew she was speaking.

"I almost…I almost…"

Gun shots flew past them both as Layton shoved Laura through a door, another hall, another door, and down several flights of metal stairs (again) before finally ducking into an old break room, long forgotten. He pushed the heavy metal door shut and slid the bar lock across and clicked the dead bolt. Several more shots went off, lodging bullets into the other side of the door. Laura shrieked, and then there was silence, no gun fire. For the moment, they were safe.

The ceiling lights buzzed noisily. They were dim, hideous fluorescent lines, the cream tubes reflected in the shiny tile. Laura stared at them stupidly, then at her hands. She shuddered as her breathing struggled to return to normal.

"I almost…I almost died…back there…"

"Well, you're safe now," Professor Layton huffed, his breathing shallow and loud as he breathed in and out. He cursed under his breath and clutched at his arm where the bullet had seared through his skin. The wound seeped bright red, sticky blood, and looked like it had been half-cauterized. He wanted to nurse it, but still was experiencing the after-shock of the situation they'd just escaped. "Are you okay?" he whispered, watching Laura move her lips soundlessly.

"I…I can't believe that…that gun…"

"Laura, I know you're in shock, and I'd like for you to take your time getting comfortable, but we don't have that luxury right now. We need to think. He's…" He put an ear to the door, his hat tilting as he pressed his face to the cool metal. "I don't hear him out there, but we can't stay here for very long."

All of a sudden, Laura came to, as if waking from a coma. Everything around her seemed alien. She worked backward in her mind, trying to figure out from where she'd just come, and what she'd done minutes ago.

"I shut it down," she said robotically, in monotone. "I shut it down again, the drill. I destroyed the laptop. He…he'll have to figure out a new password, because I changed it." She rubbed her eyes, and looked up quickly. Layton shuddered when she shot him a frightening expression. "And where in the hell were you, again?!"

"I—! What?!" he sputtered, thrown by her sudden change in demeanor.

"You ran off after him, and you lost him?! I couldn't have been in that office for over five minutes! You lost track of him that quickly?" she growled, glowering at him.

"Laura, it got violent while chasing him in the halls! He was trying to beat me with a bloody pole!"

"A pole?"

"Who knows where it came from, but yes, a pole. And well…he sort of got a well-aimed kick in and another blow with the pole… Well, it's a bit difficult for a man to collect himself after having that sort of thing done to him there…"

The girl roared and clenched her fists, her contempt growing with every word spoken. "I don't care if he shoved that stupid pole up your ass, you're so busy fighting and being an idiot, you left me alone!"

"I had to go after him, who knows what he was going to do!"

"Who knows? I know! I know now what he's going to do! And I know what you are going to do too! You left me alone! And look what happened! AGAIN! I've almost been killed twice today, because you're off looking for books and fights!"

Brows knit tightly together, the Professor stood with his jaw dropped. "WHAT?! I just saved your life! That's what I just did!"

"You wouldn't have to save it if you'd stop running off! And what do you want me to do, worship you for it?!"

"A thank you might be in order, I'm thinking!" He coughed, and then let out a derisive sort of laugh. "But perhaps that's a bit much, considering I only just took a bullet for you! Quite literally!"

She stalked off, looking about the room they entered. She was furious, and had nothing more to add to the argument. The Professor still looked at her incredulously. They both knew it, but wouldn't say it aloud: the situation was eating at them, and corroding their ability to keep calm. It was a set of circumstances that wasn't taught in college.

The room was a break room, one of many that branched off the drill chamber. A couple of lengthy tables spanned the space, cheap plastic chairs lining each side. A smattering of crumbs lay on the table surfaces, testament of the messy workers, long gone. The vending machines still glowed from a corner of the room, their contents most likely expired or close to it. Laura walked up to one, shaking her head.

"Thank you." She turned back to her only company, her eyes burning. "But it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't strayed from the task!"

"Task?! The task was to find Edward!" the Professor shouted, frustrated and upset. For the first time, he wanted to smack her. He wanted to smack her across the face as hard as he could, and maybe do it again.

"And keep me safe!" she added. "And not to be searching for some stupid book!"

"And I—I'm…" He sighed, defeated. "I'm sorry, but—"

An intercom box that was wedged up in a corner of the ceiling crackled and came to life. A fuzzy, watery voice hissed from within.

"Hmm, you should be able to hear this just fine, I'm thinking," came the electronic voice of Edward, now calm and collected. After all, he was safe and secure behind a microphone, and they were trapped in a lounge like rats in a sewer. "Attention all employees, former employees—including recentlyterminated employees that should be dead—and control freak professors that might be in the building. You might want to find something stable to hold on to. Your current surroundings are going to change quite a bit… Cryptic? You'll soon figure it out. You're a smart bunch to have gotten this far! You'll have no trouble with your next puzzle.

"Good luck, Professor Layton. And to you too, Laura! Have fun with your little mechanical friend. It really 'digs' you. AH HA! Good bye."

With a buzz and a click, the intercom transmission ended, followed by Laura laughing hysterically. The Professor thought she'd lost it, and then saw tears.

"I'm so bored of this," she sobbed, her hands forming little tight fists. "I'm so…so tired and bored."

"Laura, let's just think calmly about this..." He walked closer to her, his eyes apologetic.

"Calmly? I'm stuck in a dingy break room, in the same subterranean complex as a psychotic murderer, who's currently already implementing a new way to destroy everyone, and you want me to 'just think calmly about this'?! How much more can I possibly do? I've done everything except cut the power, who knows what he's doing now…"

"If we can get back to the land, to the surface, we can inform Inspector Chelmey, who already is directing the proper—"

"You think Chelmey's got this handled and figured out?" she scoffed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Sure… Sure he does."

"It doesn't do much being here." He grabbed her shoulder, shaking her. "Let's hurry. Get to an elevator, and get out of here."

Laura pulled away from his touch, and stared at him plainly. "Hershel, you stupid blithering idiot."

"Excuse me?"

"You think optimism gets you through everything? You think imagining a bright future actually achieves one? Is that what you think?"

"I… That's not… You're taking my methods out of context—"

"No, I'm not," she muttered. She didn't look away and hadn't even blinked. In truth, her expression—so candid and frank—was as frightening as Edward's, the eye of the hurricane with the bulk of the storm right behind it.

"I… You think I don't feel hopeless right now?"

"Does a bear shit in the woods?" she deadpanned. "I just don't think you understand how unbelievably frustrating it is to be in my situation. I've been tricked. I've been framed. I've been manipulated and used, picked at and thrown to the side. I've killed hundreds and hundreds of people. I've tried and tried and tried to get somewhere and… Look where it's gotten me.

"And, at the start of it all—the very catalyst of everything—is you."

She walked forward towards him, quickly and menacingly. Suddenly she was no longer five feet tall. "You, you, you…you threw everything off. Why couldn't you have just…been a normal teacher, just sat there all tall and pretty in your pretty cap, taught all the little brats, went on with your life, and then you'd have gotten your upgraded top hat from your girlfriend, and I would be God knows where, doing God knows what, and everything would have been normal. Edward would have his recognition, and I could fade into the place where all basic people end up…"

"Unnoticed and forgotten?" he interrupted, finding her tirade as painful as it was unbearable. "Is that honestly how you wanted to end up?"

"Better than this."

"You're just talking like this because you're stressed, Laura," the Professor offered, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Laura. Snap out of it. You know as well as I do that this isn't going to solve anything."

"Are you considering slapping me?"

"Yes."

She shook her head. "Don't. You can't snap like I am. I won't allow it. As much as I hate you right now… I still can't drag you down with me."

The lights still buzzed. For several seconds, several minutes, that's all the noise that was made.

"Do you have any other options?" Layton asked, smiling. He didn't hope to make her feel any better, but just enough to try until there was no more trying to be done. "I don't think we have much time. If you've done all you can, then perhaps you'll have to cut the entire power supply. Can you at least do that much? I think the most important thing here is to die trying, not to just die, Laura."

Sighing, Laura let a few tears fall before groaning.

"I…I literally can't walk anymore, Hershel… Either you have to carry me, or it's to the elevator we go. I'm just…

"Yes, let's go," she agreed, caving and flashing him a grin. "If we don't hurry, you'll be making your tea with salt water, if Edward's got a way to get his plan to work..."

"That's my girl." He patted her on the head, and although she would never tell him, she formed the opinion that if words were money, his were a billion pounds.

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